Alabama Crimson Tide: Nick Saban is Steadying Force

By Tim Letcher

John David Mercer, USA TODAY SPORTS

Things will be much different for the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2014. Alabama is coming off of a season where it actually did NOT win the national championship. In fact, the Tide didn’t even win their own division in the Southeastern Conference.

Alabama will have a different quarterback in 2014. A.J. McCarron is now gone, after leading the Tide to a pair of BCS National Championships during his time in Tuscaloosa. McCarron’s replacement has not yet been named, but Jake Coker, a transfer who formerly played for the Florida State Seminoles, will be among those vying to fill McCarron’s shoes.

Also gone is linebacker C.J. Mosley, who anchored the Tide’s outstanding defense the last three seasons. It seems that Alabama needs to replace at least one outstanding defensive player each season, and 2014 will be different.

Another face missing will be former offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, who took a similar position with the Michigan Wolverines. Lane Kiffin, former head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers and the USC Trojans, will be the new offensive coordinator.

Despite all of this change, one thing has remained the same, and that’s head coach Nick Saban. Despite last year’s team not living up to expectations, Saban will not change the way he goes about his business. And why would he? The guy has won four national championships overall, three in Tuscaloosa, so he obviously knows what he’s doing.

With Saban on the sidelines, it won’t matter how many changes the Tide goes through. Saban will be the rock, and his program will remain at or near the top of the college football world as long as he remains head coach of the Tide.

Tim Letcher is a contributing writer for RantSports.com and a member of the Football Writers Association of America. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.